It is midday here in Southwestern Ohio and the weather has done a 180. We’ve gone from Summer’s oppressive humidity to early Autumn’s cool air and crisp breezes, literally overnight. Apparently the Polar Vortex is making its comeback a little too soon. Greenhouse warming be damned. Excuse me as I crack up a bit, after that last line I wrote. I recently took a one week trip up to my original home state of Connecticut. Below is just a snapshot of what I experienced. Enjoy…

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The photo at the top is from the Boston concert that I and Best Metal Buddy Scott Coverdale went to, back on June 28th of this Summer. Cheap Trick opened the night of Classic Rock bliss, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. That above photo of Boston is the best one I took at their show, with my iPhone. My hands kept trembling while trying to get a good “shot”, plus the row of gals behind us were stomping, screaming and even handing out an unexpected back massage to Stone. Really. That’s Rock & Roll for you. I’ll write a more in-depth review on this Boston concert in the coming days, with Cheap Trick included, of course!

Photo Credit: Stone/Metal Odyssey

Besides hooking up with Scott Coverdale in Connecticut, my goal was to spend lots of time with my Father; he lives in Canton and it’s a very nice area indeed. One town connected to Canton is Avon. I stopped by the First & Last Tavern for lunch, one afternoon. It’s just as I remembered too! Clean, great food, excellent service and a bar that screams New England. I ate the oven-baked wings with a tossed salad and washed it all down with some Sam Adams Summer Ale. Whoa.

Yuengling is still NOT FOR SALE in Connecticut. WTF? Go figure? Heck, Yuengling is brewed right in the grand state of Pennsylvania! I can buy Yuengling in Ohio and that is a very good thing. Whoa.

I hope my Connecticut Edition of Some Metal and Rock N’ Roll Thoughts has been a fun read for you. I’m planning on doing a secondConnecticut Edition this week! Connecticut will always be my home; while I’ll always consider Pennsylvania and Ohio my homes as well! Grand States ALL. Metal be thy name – Stone

December 10, 2013 – Hey, did you hear that Louis St. August, the longtime front-man for rockers MASS, was invited into Tom Scholz of BOSTON studio to sing on the new single “Heaven on Earth” that hit #3 on the Classic Rock Charts last week!

St. August, a longtime front-man for the band MASS said, “I was thrilled to be asked to sing a song on BOSTON’s first studio album in 11 years, “Life Love & Hope” (Available now!) St. August contributes his signature polished metal voice on back-up harmonies on the Scholz penned and produced single.

Louis St. August

WBCN radio personality Mark Parenteau, who conducted the very first on-the-air radio interview with St August, listened to “Heaven on Earth” last night and commented exclusively to the Boston Globe Names column: “Wow instantly comfortable! Like a new visit from an old friend. Indeed the song lives up to its name!!”

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While the band MASS is gearing up for the recording studio and live shows in 2014, St. August is once again raising funds for Toys For Tots as he has annually since 2011. His heartfelt rendition of the David Foster classic, “Grown Up Christmas List” that appears on MASS “A Very Merry X-MASS” 2 song EP is available exclusively on iTunes. All proceeds go to the “Toys For Tots” organization. “No child should go without a gift on Christmas Morning,” said St. August.

More than 10 years in the making, BOSTON’s new studio album, “Life, Love & Hope” is ready for release! Finally emerging from his Hideaway Studio II, Tom Scholz says, “These are songs from the heart, each of them taking many months of effort to write, arrange, perform and record, always up to the demands of BOSTON’s harshest critic, me. They have all been meticulously recorded to analogue tape on the same machines and equipment used for BOSTON’s hits for the past 35 years.”

Available on December 3 on Frontiers Records, this album includes lead vocals from Brad Delp, Tommy DeCarlo, Kimberley Dahme, David Victor, and Tom Scholz, and features tracks with the classic BOSTON sound, as well as the latest in the evolution of Scholz’ musical artistry. “I intentionally stayed close to the early BOSTON style on some of the songs, even using the same amps and instruments; on others I let my imagination run wild,” says Tom.

All the tracks have the characteristic BOSTON trademark guitars, harmonies, and immaculately crafted sound. Tom worked very hard to fulfill the expectations of BOSTON fans new and old, and has created a diverse yet cohesive album that truly has something for everyone.

UFO’s On Rock Album Covers – Over the decades, the image or images of UFO’s (call ’em spaceships if you prefer) have graced numerous Rock album covers. From Punk Rock to Progressive Rock, the always mysterious UFO makes for some fun and interesting album covers. Most of these album covers with a UFO theme, that I’ve decided to share with you, are without question classics, both in their album cover artwork and music within, in my Metal opinion.

Take a look at ’em and see just how unique each album cover is, with it’s portrayal of the UFO and notice some are much more detailed than others. If you know of a Rock album cover from the past or present with a UFO on it, feel free to share the info via a comment!

(Electric Light Orchestra – Out Of The Blue – 1977/Jet Records)

(Electric Light Orchestra – Ticket To The Moon/The Very Best Of Vol. 2 – 2008/Epic)

ELO has used their trademark UFO on many of their album covers over the decades. When ELO didn’t have their spaceship on an album cover, it never seemed right to me. Then again, an album cover doesn’t affect the music so I’m not totally devastated.

(Boston – Boston – 1976/Epic)

(Boston – Corporate America – 2002/Artemis)

Boston has always held onto their recognizable UFO theme, with each of their respective album’s artwork. This Boston album cover is really cool… heck, the UFO is shaped like a guitar!

(The Flaming Lips – U.F.O.S At The Zoo – 2007/WEA/Reprise)

(Journey – Escape – 1981/Columbia Records)

After all these years, this album cover to Journey – Escape is still an all-time favorite of mine for it’s amazing artwork. Okay, it looks like a flying beetle ship escaping from a big bubble… that’s a UFO to me.

(UFO – II/Space Rock/Flying – 1971/Beacon)

What would a list of Rock album covers with UFO’s on ’em be… without the legendary UFO being represented? Metal be thy name.

(Transformers – Dark Of The Moon – 2011/Warner Bros.)

Those look like two very unfriendly alien vehicles in the sky, on this new album cover for: Transformers Dark Of The Moon (soundtrack). Well, this Transformers Dark Of The Moon soundtrack brings us up to the present day, when it comes to seeing a UFO on an album cover. Until next time, keep your eyes peeled to the sky… and to those Rock album covers too!

BOSTON – Attention audiophiles worldwide! The self titled/debut Rock Classic from Boston will be released on 180 Gram Vinyl, (Friday Music), on December 7, 2010. Yes, I will readily admit to playing the debut Boston album more times than I could ever remember, so many years ago. I can recall having this album on my turntable for days, being the only album I was listening to. Personally, the songs on this album Rocked my head off as a young lad. My favorite song on this Boston album was and to this very day is… Something About You. I extremely dig Rock And Roll Band too… oh yeah I do. Gee Metal whiz, this entire Boston album has never grown stale for me.

There was and still is something mystical about hearing my favorite albums on vinyl. Just seeing vinyl spinning on a turntable today, brings me back to a time when “holding” and looking at an album jacket was part of the listening experience. The whole connection to a band I was listening to was through their music and the album jacket… with whatever artwork and liner notes that was part of it. There was no myspace music, MTV or youtube videos back in those late 70’s, … just the needle on the vinyl and my ears listening intently.

Loaded with more amazing melodies and vocal harmonies than I can count, this Boston album is a monumental Rock Classic. Plus… Boston belongs in that absent minded place that’s called The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. This Boston debut was one of the first albums I ever owned, well before I became a Metalhead… Metal be thy name. Do I feel old stating this? Heck no. Feeling old is a state of mind and I’m not approaching 90 anytime soon. I’ll be blabbing, ranting, writing and raving about the music I love when I do hit 90 years of age… I hope.

* Boston was released back in America’s Bicentennial Year of 1976, during the month of July.

* Boston was originally released on Epic Records.

* This 180 Gram Vinyl of Boston will be a “limited edition”… so I guess the number of pressings are low, just how low is the million dollar question.